1,400 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Purchased by Payden & Rygel Investment Group

Payden & Rygel Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 45.0% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.65.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $91.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,775,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,044,294. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $106.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.13. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $90.02 and a twelve month high of $215.82. The company has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.